French President Emmanuel Macron expects the government to present a bill on the end of life “by the end of the summer”. He said this on Monday when he received the conclusions of a citizens’ conference, which recently spoke out in favour of “active assistance in dying”.
There would be conditions attached to this active help. For example, it should never be performed for a social reason, and Macron also closed the door to any help for dying minors.
At the request of the French government, the citizens’ conference has debated the current French legislation on end-of-life for the past three months. The vast majority, 84 percent, thinks that the current framework is not sufficient and advocates providing a possibility to provide “active assistance” when dying.
In France, active euthanasia, or administering a deadly substance to someone, is prohibited. However, passive euthanasia, for example, by switching off machines, or indirect euthanasia, in which strong medication relieves pain and accelerates death, is allowed.
Euthanasia legislation has been agitating in France for years. Now the French often cross the border to EU countries with more liberal legislation, such as the Netherlands or Belgium, in search of help.
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